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Mutual Aid Agreement

PIKE COUNTY FIREFIGHTERS
ASSOCIATION

AGREEMENT
FOR MUTUAL AID AND ADDITIONAL FIRE PROTECTION

Pursuant
to the relevant provisions and paragraphs of the Ohio Revised Code pertaining
to Mutual Aid Fire Protection this agreement is entered into this26thday of November, 2013 by and
between the member departments of the Pike County Firefighters Association,
Inc., specifically:

Beaver Volunteer Fire
Department,PikeCounty

BentonTownshipVolunteer
Fire Department,PikeCounty

CampCreekTownshipVolunteer
Fire Department,PikeCounty

Elm Grove Volunteer Fire
Department,PikeCounty

FBP Fire Department,PikeCounty

JacksonTownshipVolunteer
Fire Department,PikeCounty

Ohio Department of Natural
Resources Division ofForestry

PebbleTownshipVolunteer
Fire Department,PikeCounty

Piketon-SealTownshipVolunteer
Fire Department,PikeCounty

SciotoTownshipVolunteer
Fire Department,PikeCounty

Stockdale Volunteer Fire
Department,PikeCounty

Waverly Fire Department,PikeCounty

ADDITIONALLY

BrushCreekTownshipVolunteer
Fire Department,HighlandCounty

Huntington Township, Ross County

Peebles Volunteer Fire
Department,AdamsCounty

Rarden Volunteer Fire
Department,SciotoCounty

SciotoTownshipVolunteer
Fire Department,JacksonCounty

AND

Pike County Sheriffs Office,
Pike County

All
political subdivisions under the laws ofOhio,
Witnesseth:

THAT WHEREAS, the respective political
subdivisions and/or organization hereinabove names have certain firefighting
equipment and firefighters to operate same, but which, in emergencies, may be
inadequate to afford full and complete protection to said respective
properties, and

WHEREAS, it is desirable that in case
of such emergency said respective parties hereto may have additional fire
protection which may be afforded by the firefighting equipment and personnel of
others of the respective parties hereto as may then, in the opinion of the
OFFICER IN CHARGE, of such other party or parties hereto as are called upon, IT
IS MUTUALLY AGREED BY AND BETWEEN SAID PARTIES AS FOLLOWS, to wit:

Section 1- Mutual Aid Provisions
and Understandings

1.
That for purposes of affording additional protection to themselves, their
contractual obligees, and their inhabitants, the parties hereto do hereby
mutually agree to interchange the service of fire departments, and the use of
fire apparatus and other emergency equipment, and to that end, it is hereby
agreed that they, or any one or more of them shall assist the party hereto
primarily responsible and responding to any fire alarm or fire call or other
emergency from any OFFICER IN CHARGE, or other duly constituted public official
which is a party of this agreement, with its or their firefighting equipment,
or other emergency vehicles and firefighters, and shall render like services in
combating fires or other emergencies as it renders to itself and its own
inhabitants, provided, however, that at no time shall the party or parties upon
which the request is made, be required to respond with more than one piece of
fire apparatus upon the first alarm, and at no time shall a department respond
or be required to respond with more resources, equipment, firefighters and
apparatus than can safely be responded without compromising fire and emergency
coverage in their primary response area. Any mutual aid department may depart
any scene at any time when the OFFICER IN CHARGE of that department determines
that their primary area of coverage is unprotected by first notifying the
requesting departments OFFICER IN CHARGE and provided further, that in no case
shall the party hereto called upon or rendering such services be liable in any
damage to any other party hereto or any of its inhabitants, or contractual
obligees, for failure to answer any fire alarm, fire call or other emergency,
or for lack of speed in answering any such call, or for any inadequacy of
equipment, negligent operation of equipment, failure to extinguish any fire, or
for any cause whatsoever growing out of such use of said fire or other
equipment and firefighters; nor shall the party hereto, which such use of said
fire or other equipment and fire fighters; nor shall the party hereto, which
issued such call be liable in any manner or event for damages or loss of
equipment or personnel suffered by the party or parties answering such call.

Section 2-
Structure Fires

2.
It is also understood and agreed that all STRUCTURE FIRES shall have, in
addition to the primary fire department, the next closest and/or available fire
department alerted simultaneously and without delay, to provide TANKER
assistance in non hydranted areas or PUMPER/ENGINE assistance in hydranted
areas to the primary responding fire department, and that all responding firefighters
should respond to their respective fire stations to man their fire apparatus
and should not respond to the fire scene in their personal vehicles, and that
the first out apparatus shall be a TANKER truck capable of tending at least
1,000 gallons of water in rural responses and non hydranted areas and a
PUMPER/ENGINE capable of pumping at least 750 gallons per minute in hydranted
areas and all other personnel and equipment should standby on their respective
fire stations until requested by the primary responding fire departments
OFFICER IN CHARGE. However,
the automatic mutual aid department may elect to respond with additional firefighting
apparatus, equipment and manpower as per their local policy and
procedures. The automatic
aid fire department shall not be required to wait until such dispatch is
received and may upon hearing their neighboring departments dispatch, elect to
respond automatically to their station and/or respond automatically with an
appropriate fire apparatus.

2.1. Further,
all fire fighters responding shall have all personal protective clothing, gear
and equipment with them and in place as per local, state, federal, OSHA, NIOSH,
NFPA, BWC and any other applicable guidelines, laws, rules, regulations and/or
standards. The OFFICER IN
CHARGE shall have and reserve the right to dismiss any firefighter who does not
have or possess the appropriate personal protective clothing, gear, equipment
and training.

Section 3- Brush, Field, Grass, Wild
Land and Woods Fires

3.
Additionally, ALL DAY TIME BRUSH, FIELDS, GRASS, WILD LAND OR WOOD LAND FIRES
during the hours of 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM shall have in addition to the primary
responding fire department, the next closest and/or available fire department
dispatched simultaneously and without delay, to provide BRUSH and/or TANKER
truck and/or FIREFIGHTERS capable of combating fires of this type. All responding firefighters should
respond in accordance to Section 2 of this agreement.

Section 4- Rescue Incidents and
Other Incidents

4. All RESCUE type incidents shall have the
primary fire department dispatched and the closest RESCUE that is equipped with
necessary and reliable tools and equipment to be able to perform an extrication
etc. Not all Pike County Departments
have Rescue capability. When dispatch or
the OFFICER IN CHARGE have information that the incident involves 2 or more
cars etc. a second RESCUE should be considered.
It is appropriate for Dispatch to alert a second RESCUE based on the
information that they have received via 911 or other communications means. If the RESCUE is not needed then they should
cancelled or advised to respond non-emergency to the scene. On nearly all scenes the fire department
having jurisdiction should be dispatched and on scene to secure the roadway,
scene, provide safety, assist EMS or any other duties that may be required or
requested. All responding firefighters
should respond in accordance with Section 2 of this Agreement.

4.1
All other types of incidents and emergencies shall have the primary fire
department dispatched and the closest special operations department that is
equipped with the necessary tools and equipment to perform the task at
hand. All responding firefighters should
respond in accordance with Section 2 of this Agreement.

5. Further, it shall be understood that the
OFFICER IN CHARGE or a CERTIFIED FIREFIGHTER shall acknowledge all fire alarms,
alerts, and calls for assistance and/or dispatches within five (5) minutes of
the alert via radio or telephone. If
a fire department does not acknowledge within the five (5) minute time frame
then the next closest and/or available fire department is to be
dispatched. Departments
will have ten (10) minutes to respond with a fire apparatus from the time they
were alerted. In the event
that they have not responded then the next closest and/or available fire
department will be dispatched. This
procedure applies to all fire departments that are being dispatched.

5.1. If you are not within a
reasonable response time to your fire station or out of your fire coverage area
then you should not acknowledge the dispatch.

5.2.
The primary fire departments OFFICER IN CHARGE shall immediately size up the
fire or emergency scene and either order additional responding units up to and
including additional apparatus, firefighters and departments or slow down or
cancel any responding apparatus, firefighters and departments.

5.3. The OFFICER IN CHARGE or
any CERTIFIED FIREFIGHTER shall immediately advise the dispatch center of any
known errors in any dispatch as soon as they are aware of the error and shall
offer the correct information without delay and in a professional manner.

5.4.
All Emergency Responders, Dispatchers and anyone else serving on the emergency
scene or in the dispatch center shall not use codes but rather plain English
talk in a keep it simple format as per the National Incident Management System
Guidelines.

Section 6- Dispatcher Duties

6.
Providing further, the primary dispatch center forPikeCountyis the Pike County Sheriffs Office
but any dispatch center having jurisdiction and the on duty dispatcher will be
responsible for alerting the correct primary, automatic aid and/or mutual aid
fire department and/or appropriate responding agency in accordance with local
procedures, policies, maps and 911 system.

6.1. The dispatcher will also
be responsible for any necessary radio and/or phone calls as needed or
requested by the OFFICER IN CHARGE. All
requests should be kept to a minimum and all OFFICERS IN CHARGE should remember
that the dispatcher might be delayed in times of great demand.

6.2.
The on duty dispatcher shall have the right to request that all radio traffic
standby in the event of an emergency and the on duty dispatcher shall have the
right to direct and/or request that radio traffic be directed over a talk
around channel in an effort to keep the repeater free and available for
emergency messages and dispatches.

6.3.
Dispatcher and Emergency personnel alike should use plain talk or plain English
and no codes as per the National Incident Command System.

6.4
In the event of a disaster or major event it is recommended that each member
department staff their station with a radio operator/dispatcher to handle any
needs that may arise so that they sheriffs office dispatcher is not
overwhelmed with additional requests.

7.
That for the purpose of this agreement, mutual aid and automatic aid is hereby
defined as The aid rendered by or between subdivisions of government owned and
operated firefighting or other emergency equipment and shall not include
primary response to any alarm of fire or other emergency made by a subdivision
legally responsible for such primary response. However, there are certain instances
where the primary fire department has not responded due to manpower shortages,
communication failures or unknown and/or unforeseen circumstances that will
necessitate the need for the automatic mutual aid and/or mutual aid fire
department to become the primary responding fire department.

Section 8- Term, Termination and
Coverage

8.
This contract shall be made and remain in full force and effect for perpetuity,
provided, however, that any party may terminate this contract upon thirty-days
notice, in writing, to all other parties. And, withdrawal or removal of
membership from this Association shall terminate all provisions of this
agreement and its benefits. Further,
should a fire department entity gain membership into said Association following
the initial adoption of this Agreement, and after that Entity adopts this
Agreement and following notification of all parties of such adoption, such
party shall be considered as if they were a party to its original adoption.

8.1.
This Agreement shall be reviewed yearly by the Mutual Aid Agreement Committee
who will recommend any needed additions, deletions and/or changes.

Section 9- Certificate of
Adoption of Mutual Aid Agreement

This
Mutual Aid Agreement amends, replaces and supersedes any and all existing
Mutual Aid Agreements of the Pike County Firefighters Association.

I
do hereby certify that the above stated Mutual Aid Agreement Constitution of
The Pike County Ohio Firefighters Association Incorporated were approved by the
Mutual Aid Committee, the Executive Board and the majority of the member
departments present on Tuesday, November 26, 2013 and constitute a complete
copy of the Mutual Aid Agreement of the corporation.

Secretary __________________________

Date: ________________________

IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, said respective political subdivisions parties hereto, have
hereunto caused this agreement to be executed as provided by ordinance or
resolution duly adopted for that purpose, a copy of which is hereto appended,
this 26thday of
November, 2013.